Too Scared to Learn—
Women, Violence and Learning

Too Scared to Learn is a thoughtful and thought-provoking examination of the impact that current levels of violence against women in our society have on the survivor in the context of literacy learning. For many of us, as for the literacy practitioners and counsellors that Horsman interviewed in her research, this is one fact that our guts know even better than our minds. Horsman’s book is special because of the way in which it is written and also the message that it conveys. Horsman has communicated with, as she says, an “enormous number of people all over Canada,” and she has accomplished the extremely difficult task of honouring those diverse voices by using many quotes from correspondence and conversations. This creates a chorus of depth and honesty that is impossible to ignore.

Horsman’s book is aimed primarily at educators in the literacy field. One of the most interesting things about the book, for me, was the discussion about redefining survivors of abuse as “canaries in the mine” - warning our society of the toxicity of violence - rather than as victims with behaviour problems who need help returning to “normal.”

Another useful aspect of Horsman’s book is that it gives practical suggestions gathered from many sources for how we, as literacy practitioners, can help to make the learning environment a safer, more inclusive one for those who have been traumatised by violence. She outlines methods that most, if not all, educators could use to help make the prevalence of violence visible, to recognise and honour the learner’s need to move in and out of “presence,” and to set up opportunities for learners to take control of their learning environment.

I also read with relief and appreciation the discussion pertaining to the “instructor as counsellor” and the costs of “bearing witness.” This part of Too Scared to Learn typifies what, for me, is one of the most important features of the book; it engaged me me in the debate, rather than merely allowing me to passively observe an acedemic discourse.